


Symbiosis

by Anonymous



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-11
Updated: 2012-12-11
Packaged: 2017-11-20 20:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/589372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sym·bi·o·sis<br/>/ˌsimbēˈōsis/</p>
<p>Noun<br/>Interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.<br/>A mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Symbiosis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ximeria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ximeria/gifts).



Erik prefers not to engage in public displays of affection, but that doesn’t bother Charles. He can feel how deeply Erik loves him with even the faintest awareness of his mind. Moreover, Charles knows _Erik_ , and what it means that Erik has stayed.

Erik is a man of spectacular passion and conviction; when he acts, he acts with all his strength; when he dedicates himself, he gives all that he has and will stop at nothing to achieve his ends. There has only been one exception: that day in Cuba, when a deflected bullet struck Charles’s spine. Up until that point, Erik had been focused solely on destroying Shaw and then the men on their boats, the men who dared to aim their missiles at the beach. When the bullet struck, Erik made a choice, conscious or not. When he let go of the missiles and dropped to Charles’s side, when he thought only of protecting Charles, threw off that hated helmet… That was when his point of focus changed completely. That was the one time that he allowed himself to bend.

Erik’s capacity for love is at least as strong as his capacity for hate or his need for revenge. His loyalty is boundless, his devotion complete. It amazes Charles and it humbles him in a way that nothing else ever has. Just as Charles can soothe Erik’s rage, Erik can break through Charles’s pride.

Charles had never met anyone whose power could match his own until he met Erik and he knows that Erik had never met his match until Charles found him in the ocean. They could have destroyed each other completely, had things been different. They could have been opposing forces of nature, engaged in eternal struggle. It’s so much better this way. Together, they are capable of anything.

They still fight, of course, but the fighting has always been a part of this thing between them and Charles wouldn’t have it any other way. Truth be told, they need it. On his own, Erik tends toward extremes, seeing the world in a stark contrast of the righteous and the evil. Left to his own devices, Charles is largely inclined to seek peace through accommodation and cooperation. “Assimilation,” Erik corrects, and Charles knows better than to push his case. They don’t see eye to eye, but they’ve both learned the value of compromise. Between their two ideologies is a third, more successful option, something closer to assertion than aggression or passivity.

The others are somewhat bemused at the change in their two leaders. From an external point of view, the exchanges between them appear more than a little antagonistic. The other mutants have noticed that Charles is less reluctant to raise his voice to Erik and that Erik is pleased with this change, but they don’t understand why this is so. Nevertheless, the other mutants have some idea about the nature of their mentors’ relationship. Charles and Erik have never exactly announced that they are a couple, but neither have they attempted to hide it since their return from Cuba. Erik has his own room, but it’s no secret that he sleeps in Charles’s quarters.

Once the school is up and running, they’ll have to find a way to make sure the little ones don’t give them away to anyone who might attempt to use that information against them, but there’s still time to figure that out. For now, they simply _are_. They argue as intensely as they love, but now they find strength in the opposition. “Synthesis” Erik says. “Symbiosis,” Charles counters. They both mean that when they are together, their possibilities are endless.


End file.
